'Chimaera'
Ranma had never seen Nabiki like this before. He well understood that she was to be respected, and demanded respect fully, even from her sister. Kasumi often commented how she admired Nabiki for her intellect, but never commented on her ability. Because of this, Ranma had never viewed her as much of a fighter. Granted, he was sure she would have some ability, but...
"How...?" Ranma could only mutter, as a sudden violent wind began to buffer him like the breech of a hurricane. Nabiki seemed rather unaffected by the raging tempest, as her clothes simply fluttered while she stood in the eye of the storm.
She kept her arms held wide, as she stared at Ranma. "Ranma, we do not need this foolishness right now, I'm asking you to quit before we allow this to go too far."
"Nabiki-sensei," Ranma replied, holding himself braced to the spot as his arms crossed over his face, "I can't go far enough for Kasumi."
The last ounce of pleading melted from Nabiki's face, "So be it. I'm afraid you won't be able to go anywhere for a while, when we're through..." With that, she suddenly crossed her arms quickly, and Ranma felt as if the whole tempest converged towards him like a speeding freight train, slamming him into the control panel behind him.
"You'll be the one fixing that," Nabiki commented, idly, as she swiped one of her crossed arms to the side, creating a violent gale to throw Ranma sideways, into a wall. This was one of Elder Cologne's techniques, to be able to control the enviorment on an elemental level. It was extremely effective on the original Ranma, as it kept him from gaining any bearing on his surroundings, and ensuring he stayed off balance. It was one of the few advanced techniques Nabiki ever learned, and mastered, and it was also the only one she decided she would ever need.
Ranma's back connected heavily with the barrier he was thrown into, before he plummeted unceremoniously to the ground. This wasn't a fight he was particularly used to. Nabiki was obviously not going to allow him to easily get close, which probably meant he was still faster and stronger than her. Hopefully, he could finish this with one good blow. If he were to even hope to make it through the battle intact, he would have to apply a great deal of lateral thinking, as Kasumi always emphesized.
Ranma slowly got up, and seemed to study his second mother, before rushing at her. Nabiki almost snorted, wondering what foolishness Kasumi must have taught her protoge, as she simply flicked her hand to the side, causing Ranma to be sacked by a heavy wind that hit with the impact of a wrecking ball. Ranma had noticed the hand jesture, and quickly braced the side he expected the impact to come from, and rode it to another wall.
He managed to turn his body horizontally, just in time to brace his feet against it, and ran. The wind blast Nabiki had just created was spinning around the room like a powerful tropical storm, adding to Ranma's momentum, and allowing him to stay running against the walls.
Nabiki watched Ranma curiously, and went into a subtle defensive stance. Her caution managed to barely pay off, as the pigtailed boy suddenly launched himself off of the wall, crossing in front of Nabiki, and flipping like a thrown discus.
Nabiki's eyes went wide, as she barely managed to duck the heal of Ranma's foot almost connecting with the side of her head. The force of Ranma kick, added with the power given to him by riding out the small storm, would have easily felled the woman.
She understood that she needed to take him to the utmost seriousness, as she suddenly thrust her hands up, causing the wind to change direction, and throwing Ranma up into the ceiling.
Ranma felt the wind knocked out of him, before he plummeted to the ground. As he retempted to recover himself before he hit the ground, Nabiki's foot slammed into his stomach.
Her flying kick carried him all the way to the wall, and pinned him here like an insect on a child's science project. She withdrew her foot, as gravity took over, and spun around to drive the heal of her other one into Ranma's temply. Kasumi's successor had enough capacity to duck before it could connect, and promptly launched himself into the offensive. She game within attacking range, which Ranma knew would be to his benefit.
Nabiki quickly rushed back, barely able to stay ahead of Ranma's hands and feet. The pigtailed boy could see she was about to lose her balance, as she wasn't able to gain a firm footing. Beginning to grin at her sign of panic, Ranma pressed even harder, as he was pushing her towards a wall, meaning she would have nowhere else to go.
Nabiki cupped her hands together at her stomach, as if to form a ki attack. Ranma saw it, and refused to allow her any quarter, "No you don't!" His fist passed through her cupped hands, changing into an uppercut aimed for her jaw. At this, Nabiki smiled.
The ensuing explosion sent them both flying away from each other, though Ranma's flight was much more violent. Nabiki recovered, her feet sliding backwards against the ground from the momentum of her pressure bomb, while Ranma bounced against the ground, before crumpling against the base of the control panel. Staggeringly, he pulled himself back to standing, giving a very weary eye to Nabiki. She had intentionally set that up so that she could do the most damage to him in one shot, aiming to end the fight right then and there. The slight surprise on her face only confirmed his suspicions.
"Ranma... stop this," Nabiki demanded, going into a Taichi stance, as the wind began to rotate around her; picking up debris that had been created during their battle.
"I... won't fail Kasumi," Ranma challenged. He knew he didn't have all that much more left, but was more than prepared to give it his all.
"And I won't fail my sister by allowing any of you to put yourselves in danger," Nabiki countered, solumnly. In a subtle motion, she slammed her palm into one of the heavy pieces of debris that was circling to the front of her, sending it flying at Ranma with precision, "Even if I have to put you out of commission, myself."
Ranma deftly dodged out of the way of the rubble that was launched at him at extreme velocity, before shouting out in pain from a strong blow from the side to his ribs. Nabiki continued to carry Ranma to the side with the blade of wind she has slashed him with, before turning her blade hand verticle, and swinging her other open palm from the outside in.
Almost immidiately Ranma changed directions in the air, jerked in the turbulence like a rag doll. It was all he could do to keep from blacking out, as he slid against the ground. His vitality was running short, and it had gotten worse when he felt the temperature in the room dropping severely.
Nabiki was apparently giving no quarter, beginning to utilize her trump card. This would greatly hurt Ranma, but it was for his own benefit. "I'm finishing this fight now, Ranma." At her announcement, she gracefully dragged her right palm across her, casing a line of debris to follow, before swinging the same hand back the other way to backhand each piece, sending them flying at Ranma.
Kasumi's successor knew it wouldn't be a good idea to attempt to dodge them again, and instead spun into a backfist, sending the majority of them scattering all over the place. Nabiki idly tilted her head out of the way of the one piece that came closest to hitting her, and ignored it as he slammed against the wall, and fell against the ground. Almost with contempt, Nabiki just only slightly gestured with one hand, flicking her fingers upwards.
Right under Ranma, a centralized tornado erupted, throwing him off his feet. He was flipped head over heels, landing heavily against the back of his neck. Nabiki stood patiently, awaiting to see if Ranma could even move or not, before she began to relax.
"I'm... not finished... yet."
Nabiki's head jerked up, as her eyes shown both admiration and annoyance. She credited Ranma's tenacity, but this had gone on far too long. The woman drew her arm back, with her hand curled into a fist.
Ranma felt the extreme cold begin to overwhelm him, wondering when they damaged the local temperature regulation system. Growling as he focused every last bit of energy he had, Ranma charged forward, and leapt into the air for one final all-or-nothing attack.
Nabiki looked up at him, and punched into the air towards him, sending her most potent gale attack at him yet. Ranma's eyes slammed shut, as he crossed his arms in front of him, hoping to absorb the impact. Fortunately, his gambit prevailed, as the force of the blast mostly dissippated before it hit him. There was still enough to rob him of his velocity, so he wouldn't crash into Nabiki.
The Tendou sister's eyes went wide, as something slammed into the back of her head, right at the base of the skull. Unsteadily, she turned to see what it was, and found the piece of debris that Ranma had punched right back at her, laying on the ground. As her vision became blury, she chuckled slightly. Ranma used the vacuum she created with her attack to hit her from behind. He set her up with a novel rendition of the Demon Deep Sea Chasm.
Ranma rushed over to her, just as Nabiki slumped to one leg, trying to shake the conciousness back into her. Ranma caught her, just as she was collapsing forward.
"Ranma... please..." The pigtailed boy studied Nabiki's pleading, saddened face, right before she slumped, unconcious.
He beat her... he beat Nabiki. During the battle, he was beginning to suspect it wasn't even possible, as she knew exactly how to counter his fighting style. He couldn't contemplate it at the moment, as the arctic temperatures of the room were causing him to nearly pass out.
Gathering Nabiki up in his arms, he rushed from the room and down the hall, only stopping once he felt comfortable with the temperature. Ranma continued to pant, feeling the toll of the battle upon him.
"You... you actually won?"
Ranma turned an irritated expression towards Tarou, who stood by seemingly in shock, "Yes, I won, alright? But I'm not happy about it." Ranma looked down at Nabiki, already regretting the fight, "What are we going to do with her?"
Tarou sighed, deciding his own fate, "Well, we're already going to be in serious trouble for this. I suggest we keep her somehow incompacitated long enough for us to go rescue Kasumi."
Ranma looked sceptically at Tarou, "'We'?"
"Sorry, but Nabiki wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I let you go alone," Tarou replied with mirth, "So, I'll be busted if I do, busted if I don't."
Ranma nodded, and then once again looked down at Nabiki.
Ranma had never seen Nabiki like this before. He well understood that she was to be respected, and demanded respect fully, even from her sister. Kasumi often commented how she admired Nabiki for her intellect, but never commented on her ability. Because of this, Ranma had never viewed her as much of a fighter. Granted, he was sure she would have some ability, but...
"How...?" Ranma could only mutter, as a sudden violent wind began to buffer him like the breech of a hurricane. Nabiki seemed rather unaffected by the raging tempest, as her clothes simply fluttered while she stood in the eye of the storm.
She kept her arms held wide, as she stared at Ranma. "Ranma, we do not need this foolishness right now, I'm asking you to quit before we allow this to go too far."
"Nabiki-sensei," Ranma replied, holding himself braced to the spot as his arms crossed over his face, "I can't go far enough for Kasumi."
The last ounce of pleading melted from Nabiki's face, "So be it. I'm afraid you won't be able to go anywhere for a while, when we're through..." With that, she suddenly crossed her arms quickly, and Ranma felt as if the whole tempest converged towards him like a speeding freight train, slamming him into the control panel behind him.
"You'll be the one fixing that," Nabiki commented, idly, as she swiped one of her crossed arms to the side, creating a violent gale to throw Ranma sideways, into a wall. This was one of Elder Cologne's techniques, to be able to control the enviorment on an elemental level. It was extremely effective on the original Ranma, as it kept him from gaining any bearing on his surroundings, and ensuring he stayed off balance. It was one of the few advanced techniques Nabiki ever learned, and mastered, and it was also the only one she decided she would ever need.
Ranma's back connected heavily with the barrier he was thrown into, before he plummeted unceremoniously to the ground. This wasn't a fight he was particularly used to. Nabiki was obviously not going to allow him to easily get close, which probably meant he was still faster and stronger than her. Hopefully, he could finish this with one good blow. If he were to even hope to make it through the battle intact, he would have to apply a great deal of lateral thinking, as Kasumi always emphesized.
Ranma slowly got up, and seemed to study his second mother, before rushing at her. Nabiki almost snorted, wondering what foolishness Kasumi must have taught her protoge, as she simply flicked her hand to the side, causing Ranma to be sacked by a heavy wind that hit with the impact of a wrecking ball. Ranma had noticed the hand jesture, and quickly braced the side he expected the impact to come from, and rode it to another wall.
He managed to turn his body horizontally, just in time to brace his feet against it, and ran. The wind blast Nabiki had just created was spinning around the room like a powerful tropical storm, adding to Ranma's momentum, and allowing him to stay running against the walls.
Nabiki watched Ranma curiously, and went into a subtle defensive stance. Her caution managed to barely pay off, as the pigtailed boy suddenly launched himself off of the wall, crossing in front of Nabiki, and flipping like a thrown discus.
Nabiki's eyes went wide, as she barely managed to duck the heal of Ranma's foot almost connecting with the side of her head. The force of Ranma kick, added with the power given to him by riding out the small storm, would have easily felled the woman.
She understood that she needed to take him to the utmost seriousness, as she suddenly thrust her hands up, causing the wind to change direction, and throwing Ranma up into the ceiling.
Ranma felt the wind knocked out of him, before he plummeted to the ground. As he retempted to recover himself before he hit the ground, Nabiki's foot slammed into his stomach.
Her flying kick carried him all the way to the wall, and pinned him here like an insect on a child's science project. She withdrew her foot, as gravity took over, and spun around to drive the heal of her other one into Ranma's temply. Kasumi's successor had enough capacity to duck before it could connect, and promptly launched himself into the offensive. She game within attacking range, which Ranma knew would be to his benefit.
Nabiki quickly rushed back, barely able to stay ahead of Ranma's hands and feet. The pigtailed boy could see she was about to lose her balance, as she wasn't able to gain a firm footing. Beginning to grin at her sign of panic, Ranma pressed even harder, as he was pushing her towards a wall, meaning she would have nowhere else to go.
Nabiki cupped her hands together at her stomach, as if to form a ki attack. Ranma saw it, and refused to allow her any quarter, "No you don't!" His fist passed through her cupped hands, changing into an uppercut aimed for her jaw. At this, Nabiki smiled.
The ensuing explosion sent them both flying away from each other, though Ranma's flight was much more violent. Nabiki recovered, her feet sliding backwards against the ground from the momentum of her pressure bomb, while Ranma bounced against the ground, before crumpling against the base of the control panel. Staggeringly, he pulled himself back to standing, giving a very weary eye to Nabiki. She had intentionally set that up so that she could do the most damage to him in one shot, aiming to end the fight right then and there. The slight surprise on her face only confirmed his suspicions.
"Ranma... stop this," Nabiki demanded, going into a Taichi stance, as the wind began to rotate around her; picking up debris that had been created during their battle.
"I... won't fail Kasumi," Ranma challenged. He knew he didn't have all that much more left, but was more than prepared to give it his all.
"And I won't fail my sister by allowing any of you to put yourselves in danger," Nabiki countered, solumnly. In a subtle motion, she slammed her palm into one of the heavy pieces of debris that was circling to the front of her, sending it flying at Ranma with precision, "Even if I have to put you out of commission, myself."
Ranma deftly dodged out of the way of the rubble that was launched at him at extreme velocity, before shouting out in pain from a strong blow from the side to his ribs. Nabiki continued to carry Ranma to the side with the blade of wind she has slashed him with, before turning her blade hand verticle, and swinging her other open palm from the outside in.
Almost immidiately Ranma changed directions in the air, jerked in the turbulence like a rag doll. It was all he could do to keep from blacking out, as he slid against the ground. His vitality was running short, and it had gotten worse when he felt the temperature in the room dropping severely.
Nabiki was apparently giving no quarter, beginning to utilize her trump card. This would greatly hurt Ranma, but it was for his own benefit. "I'm finishing this fight now, Ranma." At her announcement, she gracefully dragged her right palm across her, casing a line of debris to follow, before swinging the same hand back the other way to backhand each piece, sending them flying at Ranma.
Kasumi's successor knew it wouldn't be a good idea to attempt to dodge them again, and instead spun into a backfist, sending the majority of them scattering all over the place. Nabiki idly tilted her head out of the way of the one piece that came closest to hitting her, and ignored it as he slammed against the wall, and fell against the ground. Almost with contempt, Nabiki just only slightly gestured with one hand, flicking her fingers upwards.
Right under Ranma, a centralized tornado erupted, throwing him off his feet. He was flipped head over heels, landing heavily against the back of his neck. Nabiki stood patiently, awaiting to see if Ranma could even move or not, before she began to relax.
"I'm... not finished... yet."
Nabiki's head jerked up, as her eyes shown both admiration and annoyance. She credited Ranma's tenacity, but this had gone on far too long. The woman drew her arm back, with her hand curled into a fist.
Ranma felt the extreme cold begin to overwhelm him, wondering when they damaged the local temperature regulation system. Growling as he focused every last bit of energy he had, Ranma charged forward, and leapt into the air for one final all-or-nothing attack.
Nabiki looked up at him, and punched into the air towards him, sending her most potent gale attack at him yet. Ranma's eyes slammed shut, as he crossed his arms in front of him, hoping to absorb the impact. Fortunately, his gambit prevailed, as the force of the blast mostly dissippated before it hit him. There was still enough to rob him of his velocity, so he wouldn't crash into Nabiki.
The Tendou sister's eyes went wide, as something slammed into the back of her head, right at the base of the skull. Unsteadily, she turned to see what it was, and found the piece of debris that Ranma had punched right back at her, laying on the ground. As her vision became blury, she chuckled slightly. Ranma used the vacuum she created with her attack to hit her from behind. He set her up with a novel rendition of the Demon Deep Sea Chasm.
Ranma rushed over to her, just as Nabiki slumped to one leg, trying to shake the conciousness back into her. Ranma caught her, just as she was collapsing forward.
"Ranma... please..." The pigtailed boy studied Nabiki's pleading, saddened face, right before she slumped, unconcious.
He beat her... he beat Nabiki. During the battle, he was beginning to suspect it wasn't even possible, as she knew exactly how to counter his fighting style. He couldn't contemplate it at the moment, as the arctic temperatures of the room were causing him to nearly pass out.
Gathering Nabiki up in his arms, he rushed from the room and down the hall, only stopping once he felt comfortable with the temperature. Ranma continued to pant, feeling the toll of the battle upon him.
"You... you actually won?"
Ranma turned an irritated expression towards Tarou, who stood by seemingly in shock, "Yes, I won, alright? But I'm not happy about it." Ranma looked down at Nabiki, already regretting the fight, "What are we going to do with her?"
Tarou sighed, deciding his own fate, "Well, we're already going to be in serious trouble for this. I suggest we keep her somehow incompacitated long enough for us to go rescue Kasumi."
Ranma looked sceptically at Tarou, "'We'?"
"Sorry, but Nabiki wouldn't let me hear the end of it if I let you go alone," Tarou replied with mirth, "So, I'll be busted if I do, busted if I don't."
Ranma nodded, and then once again looked down at Nabiki.
